Los Lobos coming to the Newt

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NEWTON — Los Lobos, the American rock band from East LA comprised of members David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, Louie Pérez and saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Berlin, has been producing hits since 1981, and is headed to the Newton Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m.

Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños. Their 1987 remake of Ritchie Valens’ classic “La Bamba” for the soundtrack of the same name earned the band a number one smash hit on the Billboard charts, and the following year’s La Pistola y El Corazón, which found the band revisiting its Mexican folk roots, was also highly regarded.

Following a bit of writer’s block and a short period of creative reorganization, Los Lobos produced ‘Kiko’ in 1992. The album was embraced by fans and hailed by critics as Los Lobos’ defining moment, the album that put Los Lobos back on the innovation track. The album, wrote All Music Guide, “demonstrated the breadth of their sonic ambitions.” The band’s Cesar Rosas comments, “With that album we didn’t want to be tied down to all the conventional ways of recording, so we started experimenting and making up sounds.”

That is where the band remains today. Next year, Los Lobos will celebrate 40 years together, a monumental achievement in a world where bands come and go in the blink of an eye.

A rare example of longevity in a volatile music world that stresses style over substance, Los Lobos’ lineup has remained uninterrupted since 1984, when Berlin joined original members Pérez, Hidalgo, Rosas and Lozano, each of whom had been there since the beginning in 1973. Rolling Stone wrote, “This is what happens when five guys create a magical sound, then stick together for 30 years to see how far it can take them."

Los Lobos appears at The Newton Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Tickets start at just $47 and can be purchased at The Newton Theatre box office at 219 Spring Street in Newton, NJ; online at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com; or by calling 973-940-NEWT.